Legacy
by Jonnoda
Summary: Everything is governed by rules. Humans, Demons, even Gods. But exceptions can be made, for a price. The ramifications of a single event can be far reaching beyond comprehension, whether it leads to unity and life, or chaos and death, is yet to be decided


**_Disclaimer: _**None of the characters depicted in the following stories belong to the Author, and no money is being made from this work.

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Uzumaki Naruto was a good child.

'Get out of here monster!'

Uzumaki Naruto learned at an early age that for him, being the good child simply meant being an easier target.

It wasn't fair. Birthdays were supposed to be fun times weren't they? There was even a festival. The young blonde lay cuddled underneath his thin blanket desperately suppressing tears as the irrepressible loneliness settled on his shoulders. It had been such a good day; Hokage-jiji had stopped by in the morning and they had shared some cake. He had even gotten a present, a new pair of pajamas and a really cool hat to sleep with!

It didn't stop the bruises from stinging as he huddled in his cold apartment trying to find solace in sleep.

O

The Kyuubi was pragmatic creature, it was inherent in his nature to take his situation and twist it to benefit him. Shortly after being sealed into the human child he went into a deep slumber, and when he awoke his rage was gone. In its place remained a calm and cunning mind that accepted his new boundaries and immediately set forth on testing them. It was during this time that he discovered how binding the seal truly was. During his hibernation the child's body had grown, both on the outside and in his soul. Connections had been made and even now a diluted form of his chakra flowed through his containers veins, subtle yet strengthening.

It was both damning and strangely freeing to realize that his time could now be measured in years instead of millennia. It occurred to him then the true terror of time. Would it truly be his fate to simply die and be forgotten as anything other than a myth a mere few centuries? Him, the Kyuubi no Youko? It struck him then why the humans were the way they were. This foreign desire to be remembered was a powerful form of compulsion to achieve greatness.

It was during his study of the seal that he learned how to perceive the outside world through his host's senses, and what he saw disgusted him. The humans abusing one of their own kits, in some asinine attempt to harm him; such thoughts made him bristle in anger. Demon he may be but he still followed the instincts of his kind, and the harming of a kit, even one not his own was a crime worthy of being hunted down and torn to shreds.

The child was crying again.

His stifled sobs echoed hollowly around the Kyuubi's cage reflecting upon themselves in an almost maddening cacophony. Thinking to perhaps offer some comfort in order to regain the peaceable silence, the Fox sent a trickle of chakra to the child brain, almost immediately sending him into a deeps sleep.

The Fox did not rest though, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his new existence and how he could bring some benefit from it. He considered attempting to shatter the seal, but dismissed it instantly. He would gain a few scant seconds of freedom before the weight of his spirit and chakra annihilated the body he now resided in. Besides, as things stood this kit was his kit, as their souls had begun merging, the ancient spirit felt age old instincts beginning to rise in him once more. To protect and provide for his young; he scoffed at the thought. This ningen was hardly worthy of being called one of his scions, but it was as close as the fox was going to get.

It was at that moment, he _understood_.

Not everything, but as close as he would get.

A divine message from Inari-sama.

The new knowledge wove itself in the ancient fox's brain imprinting itself deeply so as to maintain its importance in his thoughts.

Humans were foolish creatures who sometimes said wise things.

Knowledge is power.

Power is everything.

Shifting forward the Kyuubi used his new found power to slowly disintegrate into a fine mist, half sifting through the bars, half remaining to act as an anchor.

On the roof of the depilated and near abandoned apartment building, a nine-tailed fox appeared. Sniffing the air experimentally, he resisted the urge to howl his newfound freedom. There was much to do tonight, pieces moved, plans set and traps laid. In a flash of an instance, the Kyuubi disappeared.

Huddled in his bed, Uzumaki Naruto slept on.

O

**Legacy**

**Advent Dawn Arc**

**Prologue – The Wheels Turning**

**By Jonnoda**

O

Far to the east past the Shinobi Nations, over the gargantuan mountain ranges a small campfire flickered. Two men rested in its light, one huddled over a suspended cookpot throwing in herbs and stirring seemingly at random, the other languishing near the edge calmly observing the night. The silence was broken only by the song of crickets until the second man finally turned and observed the first.

"Do not lose hope."

The reaction was miniscule, a tightening on the hand the held the soup ladle. The stirring continued unabated.

"Do not, it has been five years, we are looking for a needle in a proverbial haystack the size of this world. It will take time."

The stirring stopped as the first man finally looked up and after a moment replied.

"You seem confident there are survivors."

His statement was met with an odd huffing laugh.

"You're alive aren't you? That is testament enough that there are other survivors. Small chance it may be, but you wouldn't be the man I know you are if you gave up simply because the odds were against you."

The silence stretched as the first man resumed stirring the pot of stew, absently stoking the fire as he did so. Nothing was spoken as the meal was served and both men ate until rock flew from the darkness, upsetting the pot of stew and spilling it over the forest floor. Neither man reacted as a group of six stepped out from the shadows and into the fire's dying light.

They were filthy men, the kind that robbed men of their life and women of their purity and children of their innocence. The most common kind of bandit, dregs of humanity that deserved neither pity nor life.

The biggest of them, a man whose only distinctive feature in the darkness was is large beard stepped forward casually holding a large axe in one hand and a bolas in the other.

"Well well, look what we have here, travelers walking on our road, stealing game on our land and burning our wood." He paused, supposedly for dramatic effect before continuation, slowly working the bolas into a swing. "That's not good, not at all, you need to be paying Jaboro's tax to travel on this land, you never know when you may have an accident if me and my boys suddenly don't feel like taking care of bandits and monsters."

It was a rehearsed speech. Designed to instill fear and expose weaknesses of the travelers these men preyed on. The two travelers remained silent, their deep hoods not even twitching to the side as they continued to eat.

The leader of the bandits quickly grew angry as he stepped forward ready to begin the attack.

The first man lowered his bowl on to the ground.

With a growl Jaboro raised his axe ready to cleave the pathetic man who dared disrespect him.

His target murmured something he never thought he would hear again after fleeing the western nations; and as the ground swallowed him into the suffocating darkness he thought no more.

The remaining bandits were stunned to speechlessness. One of them was clearly slightly above the others in intelligence, because he turned and ran the instant he realized what had happened; his friends continued to stare at the spot there leader had just occupied in dumbfounded stupidity.

There eyes moved as one as they all focused on the man who was now slowly removing his hood. Dark red hair glowed in the remaining firelight as he looked at his partner with a smile.

"Tengu-san, it appears our meal has been interrupted. I am satisfied for the night, however it seems fresh meat has stumbled upon our camp; perhaps if you are not yet sated you could… make use of them."

"But of course, I am feeling rather hungry actually." As one the remaining bandits looked at the second man, frozen in fear.

_When had he stood up?_

They watched in horror has his cloak grew feathers and split forming two muscular wings that stretched out over the camp as he flexed them, dark muscled arms and large hands armed with wicked talon claws flexed in anticipation, reaching up to pull back his hood.

A large beak sprouted as the cloth fell back leading to the feathered head of an eagle.

And two gleaming golden eyes with malice in them.

O

He ran.

He did not think twice about it, the others were dead. Messing with ninja led to nothing but doom.

He tripped over a root in the darkness cursing to himself has he pushed himself up and kept running, forcing himself through some bushes. He needed to get away, if he could hide then he…

The screams of his former companions ripped through the night air causing him to trip again and knock his head on a tree. He lay on the ground frozen and disoriented as he felt tendrils of fear crawling up his spine and caressing his scalp. He crawled forward trying to hide himself in the hollow area between the great gnarled roots; shivering in horror as the scream continued until with a frightening intensity, they stopped.

He did not move. He hardly dared breathe, only his eyes flicked too and fro looking for any indication that the ninjas were looking for him. Only the sounds of the night greeted him, but he remained still. Everything was going wrong. It had been such a good haul the past two months. They had managed to ambush at least two to three groups of travelers every week, even pillage a caravan that had been left unguarded through a genius plan of his own. It was over now, he did not doubt for a second that he was the only surviving member of their group.

Time passed as the moon set and true darkness set in, it was only then he dared move. It occurred to him then that he was the only survivor, and that meant there was no one to split their accumulated haul with. He could go back to the city with that much money, buy a house and as many women as he wanted. He shivered in anticipation. He was rich! Taking a few steps he stood and listened, but heard nothing but the sounds of the night.

No longer truly concerned, having convinced himself that he had successfully evaded the ninja, and unable to contain his euphoria, he let out a strangled but hushed cry of joy.

"I'm rich!"

Then the darkness spoke to him in a deep bass that felt as if it rumbled through his very soul.

"Is that so?"

His last thing he saw as death claimed him was the terrifying sight of golden eyes and black feathers.

O

There were nights when Sarutobi Sasuke, Sandaime Hokage of the Leaf could do nothing but sit and think. Past mistakes, hopes for the future, problems of the present; Orochimaru's fall from grace, Naruto and the rising tensions with Cloud.

He sighed bitterly.

He should be coddling and playing with his baby grandson now; basking in the warmth of his family. Instead he sat in his cold office, the world heavier than it had ever been on his shoulders.

_If only…_

_Do not think of the what if's, there lies the path to madness. _He thought, clearing his mind firmly. He pushed back all other concerns to focus on the one closest to heart at the moment.

Naruto.

There had been another assassination attempt. A recently promoted chuunin had tried to plant a explosive tag in the boys house with a kunai. It was thanks to his ANBU guards intercepting the projectile that chaos and tragedy did not reign again this night. The young man was now experiencing the attentions of Morino Ibiki, he would know by sunrise if this was part of a larger conspiracy or simply the misguided anger of a foolish youth.

Pushing away from his desk he stood and walked to his window observing the sleeping village spread out before him. It disgusted him at times, this village the he sacrificed so much for were willing to blame the crimes of a monster on an innocent child. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do to stop the widespread civil disobedience; his ninja could not be there to ensure fairness every single hour of the day. Providing what little comfort he could and ensuring Naruto's safety were the only real objects of support the Sandaime had available to him.

With another sigh he turned to the pictures of the previous Hokages, looking specifically at the one depicting a blonde man with eyes of striking blue. "Minato… if you could see what was happening to your son now, would you forgive me for my inability to protect him? Would you forgive the village you sacrificed yourself and your son for?

Reality was a bitter pill to swallow; a lesson he was disgusted to realize Naruto was going to learn very early.

With that thought hanging over his head he left his office, ready to return to his home and rest. Maybe if he was lucky he would get a chance to see his grandson before he left in the morning.

O

It had been disgustingly easy to capture the vaunted Hyuuga Heirress. Drug one guard, enter the sleeping home he had mentally mapped during his visit the day prior, find the girls room, and a chloroform pad to her face. He had wrapped her in a fresh cloth specifically designed to kill scents so that the nin-dogs and Inuzuka trackers would be unable to find her.

He was back in the garden now, hiding in the darkness of the bushes and suppressing his chakra. The perfect moment to leap over the wall and make his escape would be soon. The guard walked past his hiding spot without even glancing in his direction but he didn't dare even breathe out a sigh of relief. He counted ten more seconds and then with minimal, near undetectable chakra climbed the wall and flipped over the edge, making sure his precious cargo remained undamaged.

It was then as he landed and prepared to make a stealthy escape that he turned to see a pair of glowing red eyes staring into his own. His last thought as his mind drifted into blissful ignorance was the feeling of doom hanging over his head just got larger.

That was when Hiashi noticed something was wrong. There had been a flicker of chakra at the very edge of his senses, nearly non existent but still there. The clan head was not considered the most powerful Hyuuga in name only. He had served Konoha for years before retiring and he still trusted his instincts.

_Byakugan_!

With a seal less command his bloodline activated and he took a scan of the surrounding household. He found the problem instantly.

Hinata was missing and she was not in the compound anymore. Instantly, age old instinct rushed to the forefront of his mind as he leaped from his futon. Interception strategies, points of ambush, the probability of this being a team of kidnappers or one nin. But the most overwhelming feeling that filled him was the desire to _kill whoever _dared_ harm his daughter_.

In his mind he plotted the most likely path the kidnapper would take and moved. To his internal terror when he arrived there was no kidnapper in sight. Activating is eyes he discovered that the ninja was standing outside the compound wall, with his daughter on the ground near him and not moving. Rushing forward nothing in his life would prepare him for what he saw when he rounded the corner where his attacker was hiding.

_The Kyuubi._

So great was his shock he barely managed to maintain his balance before his bloodline deactivated and he froze in place, unable to move.

The Kyuubi was sitting on its haunches; it was the size of a small horse instead of being taller than the village walls when the Hyuuga patriarch had last seen the demon. The infernal red glow that pervaded the air at the creature's presence remained the same. His tails however were not spread out in a fan behind him; three of them stretched to the creature's right, wrapping them around the motionless Kumo-nin. He could feel the fourth tail touching him, restraining his movement. These were only peripheral thoughts, as all of his attention was focused on the small body resting at the Foxes feet.

His daughter was sleeping on the demons tails.

The Fox's five remaining tails curled in front of him forming a bed of sorts, and his daughter lay there seemingly without a care in the world, deeply asleep. He watched in growing horror as the furry tail tickled Hinata's nose causing her to giggle and bat it away before pulling it back and hugging it like a pillow.

It was then that Hisashi realized that the Demon Fox was observing his horror as he observed his daughter. He didn't know what to do; what does one say to a Demon lord who has your daughter hostage? He tried to speak, to ask, beg his daughter's life to be spared in exchange for his, but he couldn't and then he realized his mouth was frozen as well.

His mind reeled as a booming voice filled his head, forcing all other thoughts from his head.

**Calm yourself ningen. I bear your daughter no harm; she owes her life to me since I have saved her from her fate. Remain silent and I will release you from your bindings so that we may… talk.**

Fighting down his fear Hiashi could only nod in agreement. Talk? What madness was this?

**Very good. I would suggest you stay true to your silence; it would be irritating if I were forced to awaken this girl-child as I destroy this village.**

In that instance he felt the tails feather light touch leave him, retracting with eerie speed and proceeding to form a blanket over his sleeping daughter.

Breathing heavily he fell into an instinctive stance, prepared to make his final moments an honorable one if it came to that. The demon did not seem to desire harming his daughter, and if it had been his intent to destroy the village now that the container had obviously failed, they would be dead by now.

Seemingly reading his mind, the voice continued interrupting his train of thought.

**The… container as you call him as not failed. Yet. I am still bound to him, as he is to me. But that is not why we are here this night, we are here because I have saved your daughter, and thus her life is mine. **

Hiashi's hands flexed but he said nothing.

**But I do not want her. What use is a ningen girl-child to one such as me? So we stand here at a quandary ningen, I own your daughter but I do not want her, you however do.**

He recognized this. An ancient formula, one that had been taught to him as a child and heir to the Hyuuga, the demon was speaking in the Art of the Deal. Racking his mind for the appropriate response the patriarch responded in a voice that surprisingly was not marred by his inner terror.

"You speak words true, mighty Demon, you have what I desire, what do you propose as a solution to this quandary?"

The fourth set, Hiashi grimaced internally, where your opponent held all the cards and you had nothing.

He had sudden stab of fear as the demon began to smile.

**I propose… a trade.**

"Under what terms is this trade of value?"

**Terms of… marriage.**

Hiashi jerked upward eyes wide and utterly confused. The Kyuubi continued on smoothly.

**I will return your daughter to you, and you will in turn betroth her to one of my choosing. When both parties achieve their sixteenth year, you will announce their betrothal to the village, and allow them to marry in their own time. You will not mark her in any way, to do so would be to break this binding oath and bring my wrath upon your house. She will join his clan and take his name after their marriage. You may tell your daughter of this arrangement at any time. **

He was trembling now, confusion warring with horror. He forced himself to speak.

"Who is the man I betroth my daughter to?"

He had a very strong suspicion.

**My 'container', Uzumaki Naruto.**

He could not suppress the strangled question that escaped him.

"Why?!"

The Kyuubi simply looked at him without expression before answering him slowly.

**There are many reasons foolish ningen, but the only answer you will receive is that he will need a reason to stay in this village when his clan mates find him.**

With that the Kyuubi raised a paw and stamped the ground lightly. Within seconds a glowing seal encompassed the ground between them.

**Do we have an agreement ningen.**

It was not a question. He wanted to find a way around this; a way to save his daughter, but he could not think of a single thing. The Fox before him truly held all the cards.

Hiashi bowed.

"I accept the terms of this trade. I will honor it on my blood and my families honor."

The seal pulsed at his words before slowly fading; and he found his daughter softly deposited in his arms. She shivered for a moment before snuggling into his warmth.

He looked up and observed the kumo-nin who had been standing motionless during the entire conversation, lethal intent clear in his eyes.

The Kyuubi saw this and decided on a whim to answer the unspoken question.

**His intention was to kidnap your daughter to harvest her eyes and then use her for breeding projects in the village you call Kumo. However, he will shortly forget his original mission and attempt to 'assassinate' your leader by planting explosives on the tower. He will fail rather spectacularly.**

There was a note of evil amusement in the Demons tone as he said this; and without another word both the Kyuubi, and the unfortunate nin disappeared.

Relief flooded him as he collapsed to his knees clutching his sleeping daughter to his chest. It in this position that his brother Hizashi found him minutes later after the drugged guard had been discovered.

O

As Hizashi lay down to sleep again after the nights harrowing events he could not help but wonder about what had occurred to startle his usually stoic brother in such a manner. The rest of the clan had been informed that there had been a kidnapping attempt on the heiress and that the Clan Head had sensed the nefarious event and had chased down the kidnapper. The explanation was that upon realizing who was chasing him the kidnapper had dropped little Hinata and fled while her father saved her from a six meter drop.

That was the official story, and the one Hiashi had told him upon Hizashi discovering him. Every Hyuuga had believed it with little trouble, several runners being dispatched to inform ANBU watchers of the incident.

It was the boldest and most poorly hidden lie he had ever seen his brother say. There had been something in the elder mans eye that said it would be better to not ask and simply accept. His brother had been trembling; clutching his daughter to his chest as if he had saved her from the waiting maw of the Kyuubi himself. That was of course impossibility. But it still made no sense.

What could rattle his brother to such a point?

Hizashi had a feeling that whatever his brother had seen this night, he would take it to his grave.

O

Far to the southeast of Konoha, in the depths of the ocean, the ruins of an ancient temple began to glow. Runes filled every free space as a visible aura of energy suffused the area. The ground trembled for a moment and then all was silent. Slowly at first but with building speed rubble began moving across its ruined courtyard, finding place in the walls, returning shape to the walkways and pillars. The shattered and cracked remains of the center dome rebuilt itself, slabs of masonry floating from the inner area to take their positions again. Eventually even the crumbled remains of one of the fallen spires rose up rebuilding itself as it was reattached.

It was then the full glory of the temple was restored. A large courtyard leading up to the steps of a huge dome, intricate runes delicately carved into the walls, a triumvirate of graceful spires surrounding the temple proper itself, two at flanking positions and the third at the center of the courtyard. The doors, at first closed, opened with a muffled bang that reverberated in the water for miles outward. It was then in the center of the rebuilt structure that a rune circle of stretching from wall to wall, over forty meters in diameter appeared, glowing a subtle green as it lit up the engraved walls. Slowly but with a rhythmic tempo the circle began to turn, each inner layer rotating faster then the outer. A full hour passed in the timeless place until the outer layer finally completed a single rotation locking all the inner circles in new alignments.

As the glow slowly faded the ethereal light that pervaded the temple complex faded with it, slowly returning the ruins back to their original state. The dome cracked and collapsed in itself, craters and holes appeared on the stone and marble floors and walls spraying fragments in slow motion as they settled back into their original positions. The center spire exploded outward in slow motion toppling over and fragmenting as it made impact with the ground.

And then, all was silent and still.

O

The five man ANBU squad assigned to guard the Hokage Tower were proud to do their duty. They stood among the elite of the village, and they had every right to be. They were the hands of their Kage, and answered only to him. In truth, during the night of heightened security, it would take a jounin specialized in stealth or equally skilled ANBU equivalents to enter the tower undetected.

As it were none of them noticed the genjutsu placed on them as a tall cloaked figure walked not six feet in front of a mouse masked nin. Striding through the halls soundlessly the invader calmly entered the Hokages Office and looked around. No lights were needed, as the strangers fiery red eyes allowed him to see perfectly well in the darkness.

The human manifestation of the Kyuubi no Kitsune stood with his back to the door, studying the office in minute detail for a full quarter of an hour before moving again. With a snap of his fingers every genjutsu in the room fell, allowing the Fox to see all its secrets. Going to the bookshelves behind the Sandaime's desk he knelt down and found something of interest almost immediately. A gap about an inch high had appeared between the bottom shelf and the floor; it smelt of dirt and paper and the intruder knew he had found what he was looking for.

Reaching in with tendrils of chakra the Kyuubi soon had in thick sheaf of papers in his hand. Spreading it across the desk in front of him he began to read.

Information regarding his containers birth, his mother and father. Irrelevant for the most part, though he did not a sealed letter marked 'To Naruto, My Will and Final Testament'. Using his chakra to unseal the letter with out marking it the fox spirit read through the letter filing away the information to be perused in detail at a later date.

It was as he was organizing the papers to be placed back when he found what he had really been looking for. _Shiki Fuujin_. Picking up the sheet in his hand he read it through. It was a letter from the Yondaime to the Sandaime, explaining the basic function of the seal that imprisoned him in the blonde kit. For the most part it simply proved what he had inferred in his explorations of his container and the seal that imprisoned him. One line however caught is eye.

… _I've drawn a sample of the final seal and a more in-depth explanation of its function in the Forbidden Scroll. _

Interest piqued the transformed fox began to search for the aforementioned 'Forbidden Scroll'. He found it after six tries and proceeded to unroll it on the floor. Memorizing it as it went by him, he finally stopped when his point of interest appeared. He committed all the information to memory, reading it all over twice to ensure accuracy before going through the rest of the scroll.

With his bounty in hand the fox quickly rolled the large scroll and resealed it, he organized the sheaf of papers in the exact order and put it back in its safe area. He took care to replace the single long strand of hair back into its exact position on top of the pile before returning to his original position in front of the door. Then with another snap of his fingers every genjutsu he had repressed in the room fell back into place. A second later he released all of his cast illusions and allowed his corporeal form to fade as his consciousness returned to the seal.

Thirty minutes later ANBU intercepted a masked nin who had been attempting to plant timed explosive notes at key structural points in the Tower. He was successfully detained and pulled in for questioning.

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AN: A listing of all potential pairings in this fic is listed on my authors page. Along with more information on the story itself. If you've read this far and like what you've seen, please take a moment and leave a comment, knowing my writing is appreciated is a great source of drive for me to keep focused. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

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